Labour MP Craig’s office open for business in city
Decked out with red ribbon and balloons, Labour list MP Liz Craig has opened the doors to her local office.
Invercargill deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen was on hand to cut the ribbon and officially open the office yesterday, on behalf of the city council.
Kauma¯tua Herewini Neho then led the official delegation through the offices, blessing each room.
Craig said she hoped the office would be a place where she could work with the community ‘‘for the betterment of Southland’’.
Working as a public health doctor, and seeing first hand the health effects of children living in poverty, had inspired her to enter politics.
She had joined Labour in 2010, and helped to write its children’s policy at that time.
‘‘We shepherded [the policy] through the 2011 election, the 2014 election and then to see it actually becoming law ... so for me it’s been really amazing being a part of that political process.’’
Craig said it wa s good to have a permanent local base of operations to work out of.
‘‘It’s good to have a base where people can come in and connect and catch up with the staff.’’
She said she would prioritise being available at her office outside of parliament’s sitting days.
Amundsen said Invercargill was lucky to have local representation from across the political spectrum. ‘‘Given that we’ve got a Labour government at the moment, it’s really important to have a Labour presence in the city.’’
The council fully intended to draw on as much government funding as possible for the ‘‘raft of projects in our long term plan,’’ she said.